Our Little Moments
by TheGladElf
Summary: Relationships are not made by grand sweeping moments, but rather by the thousands of little moments that bring two people closer. Hiccstrid centric. In no particular order. Some fics contain spoilers for the HTTYD 2.
1. Swap

**SPOILER ALERT: ****This series of one shots may contain spoilers for How to Train Your Dragon 2. Read at your own risk.**

Age 20

"Good afternoon, milady."

Astrid looked up from where she was giving Stormfly a good scratch to see Hiccup watching her from the entrance to the academy. The dragon wiggled her head, her scales scraping against Astrid's nails as she tried to regain her rider's attention.

"Good afternoon to you, chief," Astrid said, sitting back on her heels. The Nadder grumbled and stretched out on the ground. "And how is your day going?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Oh, full of chiefly duties." He knelt down next to Stormfly and gave her a scratch under the chin. Astrid could see he was tired: bags under his eyes, stiffness in his peg leg, the slight sigh before he spoke. "How's that new saddle working out?"

"I love it," she said. "The new footholds are great." She'd spent most of the morning practicing her usual flying tricks, hands-free.

"Hmm, I thought you'd like those." Hiccup patted her knee. "Would you object if I took her out for a spin? You know, just to try out my handiwork."

Astrid arched her eyebrows. Was there a slight hesitation when he asked the question? Of course, hesitating was a trademark of Hiccup's, just not when he spoke with her.

Placing a hand on his arm, she asked, "You want to tell me what's bothering you?"

With a laugh, Hiccup gave her a peck on the cheek. "You are too smart for me sometimes."

Astrid smiled and crossed her arms.

"Okay. Okay. I was hoping to get away, but everyone's so used to seeing me on Toothless, it'll take me forever to get out of the village." It was true, since he'd become chief, Hiccup had developed an inability to ignore even the most trivial requests. If anyone even thought about needing help, Hiccup felt obligated to stop and see what he could do. Astrid hoped he would outgrow that habit soon. There was already enough pressure on him without his inventing more. "So…I was hoping I could borrow your dragon."

"Well, why didn't you start with that, silly?" Astrid asked, lightly punching the spring coil that released his back fin. It still amused her to no end—Hiccup wasn't amused at the moment though. Today must have been tough. Sighing, he rewound the mechanism. Astrid placed her hand over his. "Go, I'll keep an eye on your dragon and make sure he doesn't get too jealous."

"Thanks, Astrid."

Hiccup hopped up, giving Stormfly another scratch right behind the spines before he mounted and flew away. Astrid stood and brushed the dust off of her pants. Toothless was probably already looking for Hiccup—they hadn't gone very far from each other since the encounter with Drago—she should probably go find the dragon so he wouldn't worry. Toothless was smart to enough to realize why his rider hadn't taken him, wasn't he?

Then again, maybe Astrid should try using the saddle excuse instead.

Half of her afternoon passed in searching for Toothless. He wasn't in his usual perch on Hiccup's roof—if she wasn't careful, she still thought of it as Stoick's house. Just looking at the chief's house made her miss the big, red-bearded Viking. No wonder Hiccup had needed to get away. Astrid had no idea how he kept it together. Her mother had died when she was little, but if something had happened to her father, Astrid was sure all she'd want would be to hop on Storm Fly's back and fly until she ran out of world.

But Hiccup didn't have that option. He was chief. People were counting on him to keep the village safe.

There was a plaintive cry over by the cliffs. Toothless.

"Hey there, buddy," Astrid said. It was always a good idea to let a dragon know where you were approaching from. Toothless turned to her, eyes heavy, shoulders slumped. Her hand stroked his scales. "What's the matter?"

Toothless turned his gaze back to the sky and let out a deep cry that made his skin vibrate under her hand.

"He's just trying out Stormfly's new saddle," she said, trying to find his favorite spot.

Toothless snorted.

"Yeah, I didn't believe that one either."

The dragon pulled away from Astrid's hands and started to pace.

Hiccup had been gone a really long time. "You think something might be up, boy?"

The look Toothless gave her had her swinging into his saddle. Toothless wriggled and then sprang into the air.

Astrid loved her dragon. She wouldn't have given up Stormfly for an army of Night Furies, but there was something about riding this dragon that was special. They had their own bond. Not like the one Toothless had with Hiccup or she one she had with Storm Fly. They weren't one, but they understood each other. This person they both loved with all their heart connected them. They would, both of them, die to save him. Even scarier, she knew that Hiccup would just as gladly give up his life for them.

Which was why she was so worried by the Night Fury's behavior. Keeping a level head in situations like this wasn't normally a problem, but with Stoick's death—and Hiccup's close call—still so fresh in her memory, it was hard to keep her mind on task as she worked her way outwards, searching the places Hiccup might have gone.

"There," Astrid said, pointing out the mountainside clearing were Storm Fly lay curled up on a large, sunny rock.

At first, Astrid saw no sign of Hiccup. Then she found him. He had his back to a tree, his head on his indrawn knees. Something inside her tightened. Astrid couldn't breathe. She leapt from Toothless' back as his feet touched the ground.

"Hiccup!" she cried as she skidded to a stop next to him. The knees of her pants tore as they met the rough ground.

He lifted his head. "Astrid?"

"Are you hurt?" Astrid patted him down, checking for injuries. She grabbed his jaw, the rough stubble on his jaw scraping against her fingers as she twisted his face. "What happened? Toothless has been acting so weird this afternoon." The black dragon had not joined then, which was surprising. Toothless was huddled at the edge of the outcrop, watching Hiccup with those same sad eyes he'd used on her. Finally, Astrid saw. "Hiccup, are you crying?"

"No," he said, scrubbing the evidence off his face.

Astrid grabbed his hand. "No. Hey, it's okay, I just—what's wrong?"

Hiccup sighed.

"Was today that bad?"

"Yes. No. It was the same as any other day." Hiccup bowed his head, clutching at his hair.

"Overwhelming. I must have turned to my dad for advice two dozen times before I remembered that he's gone."

"Oh, Hiccup."

"He wanted to make me chief, Astrid. He was going to train me. I could have been learning from him and I just ran off. If I had known—"

"But you didn't know," Astrid said. Scooting closer, she put her arms around her shoulders. He melted into her. "He'd just sprung the idea on you that morning. There wasn't time anyways."

"I know." Hiccup fiddled with a blade of grass, tearing it into tiny strips. He took a shuddering breath and turned his head so his cheek was pressed against her shoulder. She ran her fingers through his hair, snagging them every time she came to her two braids. He continued, his voice soft, "But that doesn't stop the guilt."

Astrid nodded. How long had he been holding this in? All these weeks that he'd been organizing village repairs and dragon races, looking after everyone else. Since the day Stoick was killed, Astrid hadn't seen him cry once, but that didn't seem odd to her. She'd just assumed that like her, he put on a brave face for the rest of the world and nursed his grief in private.

"So, what was with the dragon swap?" she asked, looking over to where Toothless was still lying on his belly, drawn tightly together. He didn't even lift his head to growl at Stormfly as she tried to coax him into their usual games. Instead, he shifted listlessly with every nudge of her head. Stormfly looked to her rider, exasperation clear on her face. Astrid waved her away from the Night Fury. With a small growl, she waddled back to her rock.

"Toothless already feels bad enough," Hiccup whispered. "I didn't want him to see me like this."

The black dragon's ears flicked forward at the sound of his name. Could dragons cry? Looking at Toothless, Astrid decided the answer was no. If that dragon could cry, he would be. Eyes fixed on the ground, Toothless crawled forward a few inches.

"Hiccup," she said, pulling away from him. Toothless froze, but Hiccup's attention was on her. "You're not—you're not still mad at him, are you?" To her, it was a silly question. It should be a silly question. Toothless and Hiccup had been nearly inseparable for weeks. If anything, their bond seemed stronger since the encounter with Drago's alpha.

"What? No! It—" Hiccup broke off, lowering his voice. "I know it wasn't his fault. I don't blame him, I blame Drago."

"Have you told him that?" she said.

For the first time, Hiccup looked at where Toothless was groveling.

"All he knows is that you're upset and you rode off on another dragon," she said. "You're not the only one who's hurting." That was true, Hiccup knew it was true. The whole village was in mourning, but Toothless was as good at hiding it as Hiccup. Apparently, even from the person who loved him best in the world. She had seen it though. While Hiccup and Valka were huddled over Stoick's body, she'd seen how the dragon had tried to join their grief. Because he had loved Stoick too.

Toothless was approaching them again, head hanging. He was trying to be as possible, his expressive tail followed limply behind him, the rods of his fake tail clattering slightly.

"Hey, bud, it's okay," Hiccup said. He rolled to his knees, reaching for the dragon's wide head. Toothless closed his eyes, letting out a low whimper. "I know, bud, I know. I—" His voice broke. "I miss him too." Hiccup was not a sobber. His shoulders didn't shake; he didn't gasp fro breath. But Astrid knew he was crying just the same. She could hear it in every word as he pressed his face to his dragon's scales and told Toothless that it wasn't his fault over and over again. Toothless was still, his head against his riders' chest.

Astrid didn't move either. She wanted to reach out and comfort them both, but she was wise enough to see that this was their moment. If she'd been a normal girl, she might have been jealous. Astrid wasn't a normal girl though. She was a dragon rider and she understood the bond between dragon and rider.

Storm Fly trotted over and nudged Astrid's arm. Absent-mindedly, Astrid rubbed the Nadder's nose. She felt a little like an intruder. Leaving didn't feel like an option either though. So Astrid sat there and watched the sun as it got closer and closer to the horizon. When it was just half a disc, Hiccup sat back and wiped a hand across his face again.

"Better now, bud?" he asked. "Yeah. Me too."

Toothless whuffed and bumped his head against Hiccup. Hiccup scratched the dragon behind the ears and then turned to Astrid.

That was her cue. Scooting forward, she took one of his hands. He leaned into her, resting his head on her shoulder again. "Next time, tell me what's going on. Worried dragon and worried girlfriend are not a fun combination."

"You were worried?" He scoffed. "About me? I was with Stormfly. What could have gone wrong?"

"Plenty," Astrid said. There was nothing light about the punch that she delivered to the spring coil

"Oof. Thor's beard, Astrid, are you trying to break this thing?"

Astrid giggled.

"Yes. Ha-ha. That's still very funny." He was laughing too as he rewound the gears.

"It's hilarious and you know it."

"C'mere you," he growled, grabbing her waist. He pulled her to him and tried to kiss her, but the angle was off and his peg leg was in a bad position, so they ended up sprawled on the ground with Toothless looking down at the silly humans with his usual look of bemused distaste. Hiccup reached up and brushed her bangs back into place. She smiled. "Thank you. For everything," he said, placing a hand on each side of her face.

"Anytime." Then she leaned down to kiss him. Over their heads, she could hear Toothless grumble. Hiccup let go with one hand and pushed the dragon away.

Storm Fly was not quite so easy to get rid of. Not much time had passed before her teeth were gently clamped on Astrid's boot. They separated, laughing as she shook Astrid's leg.

"I think she'm tryins bored." Astrid stood brushing the dirt off of her pants.

Hiccup took her offered hand. "We'd better get back before I'm adding worried mother and worried village to that list."

Storm Fly butted her head against Astrid's back. "Okay. In a sec girl."

Hiccup was already on top of Toothless. He sat back, hand on his hip. "Whenever you're ready, ladies."

Astrid leaned close to her dragon's ear. "Why don't you fly home without me, girl. There'll be an extra bucket of chicken in it for you." The dragon turned one big eye on Astrid. She had spent most of the day with her dragon, her boyfriend—not so much "Please?" Stormfly rubbed her nose against Astrid's chest—a promise to stay close—and took off.

"Riding with me, milady?" Hiccup asked, holding his hand out.

Astrid took it, swinging her leg over Toothless' back and wrapping her arms around Hiccup's waist.

"Let's go home, bud," Hiccup said, patting the dragon's side. Glancing back at Astrid, he winked. "But how about we take the long way?"

* * *

**This is the first in a series of short one shot stories that have been banging around in my head since I saw HTTYD 2. They take place at various times between and after the movies, mostly from Astrid's POV, I think. They are in no particular order.**

**Enjoy.**


	2. Swagger

Age 17

Hiccup's height wasn't something Astrid really thought about—until now.

For as long as she could remember, they'd been roughly the same height. She'd grown used to it. She liked them being so close in size. It was comfortable. Still, she had to admit she was enjoying his recent growth spurt. Even if it added a few inches to his height. Hiccup was still skinny, but you couldn't call him a fish bone anymore. He had muscles now and broad shoulders. She really liked the shoulders.

Especially since he'd ditched the yak pelt vest for a new leather fly suit.

Granted the suit was a work in progress, but she liked it.

A fact that was probably written all over her face as she watched him double check Toothless' gear before their morning flight. Stormfly's saddle was much simpler than the Night Fury's. Astrid had been done in under a minute. When she'd turned around, Hiccup was bent over, checking the shoulder strap on Toothless' other side. Astrid leaned against her dragon with a smile, expecting her boyfriend to turn around and comment on the sudden quiet. But he hadn't. Instead, Hiccup continued to adjust all the straps and buckles that made it possible for Toothless to fly.

Storm Fly shifted, grumbling and flexing her wings. Astrid reached up to pat her chin. "Shh, girl. They're almost done."

The dragon huffed, thumping her tail against the ground. She quieted as Astrid scratched her neck, leaning into her rider's hand.

"All finished, bud," Hiccup said, patting Toothless' head. "You guys ready to go?"

Another girl might have looked away when Hiccup turned around. A different girl might had blushed and pretended like she hadn't been ogling her boyfriend. Astrid was not that girl. Well, maybe her cheeks reddened a little, but she didn't drop her gaze. This had always been her territory. Besides, any kind of open admiration always flustered him and Flustered Hiccup was Adorable Hiccup.

Only he didn't act flustered. Hiccup looked down at himself and then back at her with raised eyebrows. "Like what you see, milady?" His flirting had definitely improved over the last few months.

"Maybe," she said.

He grinned and swaggered over to her—since when could Hiccup swagger? Astrid was still processing this development when he wrapped both hands around her waist, pulled her into him, and kissed her.

That was a first.

In all the time they'd been together—this last year that they'd been official and the stretch of time when they'd been more than friends—Astrid had always been the one that kissed first. She hadn't minded or found it odd. She was the more confident one in their relationship. Hiccup had never seemed quite sure of where they stood. At least, until now.

Maybe it was the fact that their one-year anniversary was coming up and she hadn't run yet. Or it could be that over the last few months he had to refit his peg leg every other week. Whatever it was she liked this new confidence. It was surprising, but she liked it. A lot.

Hiccup did not read her hesitation as surprise. Ever the gentleman, he let her go, rubbing at the back of his neck. He stepped away. "Sor—"

Astrid laced her fingers behind his neck, pulling him close again. She definitely liked the height difference. "Was that it?" she asked.

"What?"

"All that set up deserves more than just a peck on the lips, don't you think?" Pulling him even closer, she asked, "Why don't you give me proper kiss?"

He did. However, it was anything but proper.

* * *

**A bit shorter than my last one. Inspired by something someone said about that last kiss in the movie. They pointed out that Astrid didn't seem at all surprised when Hiccup grabbed her and kissed her, which probably meant he did it on a regulur basis. And that got me thinking, so when was the first time he did that? At what point in their relationship did he feel secure enough to be the one that initiated a kiss-in everything else, Astrid is always the one to kiss him. But I'm sure y'all have already figured all of that out. **

**Hope you liked it. More is coming, just not sure how fast.**


	3. Snoggletog

Age 18

There was a knock on Astrid's door. She glanced up un time to see her mother's face peep in.

"Do you mind if I come in?" Her father, Niklas Hofferson, stood just outside her open door.

Astrid shook her head, closing her small notebook. She'd been trying to write down as many details from her and Hiccup's flight this morning. Today, they'd added a new island to their map. And then they'd gotten distracted, but it was easy to get distracted when you were eighteen-year-old dragon riders. Especially when your boyfriend tried boasting that he could out fly you.

Niklas entered the room, a cloth wrapped bundle in his arms. He held it out to Astrid, "Happy Snoggletog."

Astrid narrowed her eyes. "Gifts aren't until tomorrow."

"I thought you might want this for tonight."

Taking the bundle from her father, she unwrapped it. Inside was a folded heap of green fabric.

"Dad, is this—" Astrid shook it out, revealing a long green dress trimmed in brown.

"I think you're finally tall enough to wear it."

Astrid hugged her dad with teary eyes. She had coveted this dress since she was a small child, when her mother had worn it on special occasions. Sometimes, her mom had let her place dress-up with it. She hadn't seen it since her mother had died. Until now, Astrid assumed that it had burned with her mother—her father had never let her see the body. Just the shroud covered pyre at the funeral.

"Thank you, Dad."

"You're just a brave and beautiful as she was." Niklas smiled at Astrid and gave her a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room.

Astrid checked to see that the door was securely closed before picking the dress up again. She held it up to her chest in front of her small mirror. Did she look like her mother? It had been so long, Astrid was unsure if she remembered her mother's exact features.

Catching the skirt out with her other hand, she twirled, feeling silly and a little bit sneaky. It wasn't that she didn't like dresses, they just weren't practical went you spent all day on a dragon or running around Berk.

But, oh, this dress.

It was quite possibly the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. She glanced at the door again; it would be time to leave soon. Quickly, she stripped out of her clothes and slipped the dress on. When she'd played dress-up as a little girl, the sleeves had always been too long and the shoulders of the dress were constantly sliding down one side or the other. Now she had to admit, she filled out the dress quite nicely. No more tripping over the hem or belting the waist. She smoothed her hands down the front.

On impulse, she reached up and undid her braid, shaking it out so that it fell around her shoulders. She brushed her bangs to the side. Yes, she liked the way that looked. But something was missing.

It only took a second to braid two sections of hair and tie them behind her head.

Perfect.

Astrid felt girly and giggly and she couldn't help liking that feeling. Not that she would ever let it show. If anyone made fun of her tonight for looking a little fancy, well, she could take care of them—even in a dress.

Hiking the skirt a few inches, Astrid flew down the stairs.

"See you at the great hall," she called as she banged through the door. Her father's voice followed after her, cutting off as the door slammed shut.

A few people stared as she ran past. Astrid slowed down. Usually, when she was running through Berk it meant trouble of some sort or another. No need to give people undue alarm. Especially not right before the Snoggletog party. Straightening her dress, she approached the great hall.

A smile lit up her face when she saw Hiccup leaning against the corner of the building. He was talking to Toothless. When wasn't he talking to Toothless? The dragon caught sight of her and bounded over, stopping a few feet away and tilting his head when he saw her unusual attire.

"What do you think, bud?" she asked, patting Toothless' nose. The dragon sniffed her from hem to head, sitting back and nodding when he'd decided that it really was her. He wiggled his butt, giving Astrid a look she recognized. "Oh no you don't. That stuff does not wash out." She held her hands up. "Hiccup, control your dragon. He is not ruining my new dress."

Help was not forthcoming from that quarter, but Astrid was more than capable of taking things into her own hands. She scratched the spot that Hiccup had shown her all that time ago. Toothless fell out on the ground, rolling over so his legs were in the air, his tongue lolling. "Hmm, works every time."

"Uh-huh."

Hiccup was watching them with wide eyes, jaw slack. He snapped his mouth closed when he saw Astrid looking. His eyes started to travel down, then he jerked his gaze back up, flinching.

"H-hi, Astrid," he said with a nervous smile. "H-how's it going?"

This wasn't something Astrid had thought about. When she'd put the dress on and pulled her hair down, she had done because she liked the way it looked. How it made her feel. It never occurred to her to think about how her boyfriend would react. He thought she was pretty, she knew that. But the way he was looking at her now—it was the way he looked when they found a new species of dragon. Like she was some magical creature. Magical and powerful.

Hiccup reached out, running his fingers through the hair loose about her shoulders. "Wow."

"Do you like it?"

His hand slipped behind her neck and he pulled her forward for a kiss.

"It's a good look for you," he said. He kissed her again.

"Good, because I like this dress," she said. "So I'm wearing it whether you like it or not."

"Wouldn't dream of stopping you. Now c'mere, before you have to fight off half of Berk."

He pulled them around the corner so they could kiss in the shadows, out of sight of prying eyes.

"Only half of Berk?" she said.

"Viking wives," Hiccup said between kisses, "do not take kindly to men with wandering eyes. Now do they?"

Astrid laughed. "No. They don't. Do I need to worry about you doing something stupid while defending my honor?" She leaned into him, catching him off balance. His arms cinched around her waist as they fell against the wall.

"Nope. You've always been better at beating people up. I'd only get in your way."

Somewhere nearby, they could hear Stoick calling Hiccup's name. Hiccup sighed. Then he kissed Astrid again, his fingers sliding through her hair. She made a mental note to wear it down more often as she slid her hands beneath his yak pelt vest, pulling him close.

Stoick called again. They both groaned.

"I'd better go," he said.

Running her hands through her hair and straightening her dress yet again, Astrid took his hand as they went in search of his father.

* * *

**Okay. Lemme explain you a thing or two.**

**I looked and looked, but from what I've found, there is very little information on Astrid's parents (so if the names end up being totally jacked up, oh well). Originally, I wrote this with her mother giving her the dress, but then I remember the deleted scene in which she mentions that she is carrying her mother's battle axe. That's a pretty freaking serious weapon and it didn't make sense to me that her mother would just give it up in favor of a new one, so I made the jump that Mrs. Hofferson had been killed (how, we'll get to in another drabble, just not yet). Voila, fic that is both cute and sad.**

**As for the whole Astrid in a dress thing. I've always been irked by this idea that tough girls or tomboys have absolutely no desire to feel girly. I was bit of a tomboy growing up and that never stopped me from liking pretty, girly things (in fact, my current wardrobe is a bit of a dichotmy, but I digress). However, on Berk, dresses are obviously not practical on a daily basis and this these two ideas combined to make this fic. If you disagree, well, bite me.**

**I hope you enjoy and thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story so far. I've got more, lots more, coming if I can just get around to editing it.**


	4. Survivors

Age 20

A stubbed toe was the most ridiculous thing to cry over.

She knew that.

Still, this had been the longest twenty-four hours of Astrid's life. She was certain of it. So when she'd stubbed her toe sorting through the wreckage of her home—and sweet baby Thor in a thunderstorm had it _hurt_—she just sat down where she was and began crying.

She cried because of Stoick dying and Hiccup almost dying and Stormfly leaving her (even if it had only been for a short time) and all the people that had died in the ice dragon's attack on Berk. Really, the toe was the least of her reasons for bawling.

No, Astrid cried because she had never been more sad and scared and happy and proud and frustrated in such a short amount of time.

And this was her house, so she could cry if she wanted to.

The tears didn't last long. Astrid had never been one to indulge in sobbing. She preferred action. Astrid wiped her face dry and stood, surveying the room with fresh eyes. Now that she'd gotten all the emotional stuff out of the way, she felt better equipped to tackle…everything else.

Through the hole that had been her door, she saw Hiccup's mom going down the pathway. Shoulders hunched, arms hugging her stomach, the older woman walked through the village looking lost. Astrid couldn't blame her. What would it be like to come back to Berk after twenty years away? The young woman shuddered, if she had been the one returning after so long, with a loved one freshly dead, Astrid thought she would have jumped of Stormfly's back and flown away again.

But the woman did have Hiccup. Her son was still alive, despite his best efforts. Astrid supposed that was enough to tie anyone to a place.

This woman was Hiccup's mother. Gods above. Hiccup's mother. She might look small and frail now, but Astrid could still see her on the back of that dragon, facing down two alphas. This woman would be her mother-in-law someday.

Provided her boyfriend managed to not die long enough for them to set a wedding date.

Something had caught the woman's eye because she paused as she passed Astrid's door. At first, Astrid thought she had been caught spying, but then the woman spoke.

"Oh, aren't you beautiful." The woman walked right past the door. On the other side of the wall, Astrid heard Storm Fly let out a hesitant noise.

Astrid peered outside. Valka stood a few feet away from the dragon, knees bent, hand outstretched. Storm Fly watched her with first one eye and then the other. She wasn't scared, but she wasn't sure of this stranger either.

"It's alright, Stormfly. She's a friend." Talking to her dragon was easier than talking to the woman. Astrid patted her dragon's neck. After a long look at her rider, Stormfly stretched out her neck and bumped Valka's hand with her nose. Valka crooned to the dragon. Astrid could see what had won Hiccup over so quickly. She had hoped that this introduction could have taken place with Hiccup present. The other woman was so self-possessed. Fierce. And scary good with the dragons. Astrid wanted the woman to like her, but she'd seen many examples of how protective mothers got over their sons. Especially Viking mothers.

Valka was wholly focused on the dragon. "This is fine dragon you have, child. I've never seen a Nadder so calm."

"Oh, she's just tired right now." Astrid bit her lip. "I'm Astrid, I'm—um…"

"You're my son's girlfriend. Aye, that much was very clear." Valka stopped petting Storm Fly and smiled at Astrid. "You two do very well together, I can tell." She held out her hand. "I'm Valka."

Astrid ok Valka's hand and shook it. That wasn't enough for Valka though. She gripped Astrid's hand, pulling Astrid in for a hug. It was quick. When she pulled away, the older woman was still smiling.

"Thank you for looking after my son."

"Maybe you could convince him to make that a little easier."

The knot in Astrid's stomach uncoiled as they laughed together.

* * *

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I have a bunch of these written, they just need to be edited. I've just been trying to get through all the ideas for my other Hiccstrid fic, Loki's Gate. Shameless plug: You should go check it out, it has an actual plot. Still, I wanted to get another one of these up, so I've taken a break from that one. how can you tell when Margaret is obsessed with something? Why, she has multiple fics going at the same time (once I finish Loki's Gate, or maybe before, I have at least two other story ideas I want to explore).**

**Anyways, I felt kind of sad that we never got to see any real interaction between Valka and Astrid. I think it would have been interesting and I remember Astrid's look of awe when she saw Valka for the first time, so this happened. Logically, this probably would have happened sometime around or after the Stoick's ship scene, but I had two ideas that seemed to go together (the grieving scene and the Valka scene), so I decided to combine them.**

**Enjoy! And let me know what you think!**


	5. Song

Age 21

Astrid was almost certain that Vikings weddings were the best kind of weddings.

Where else would you find a group of people so boisterous and jolly? And of course, no wedding was complete without at least three brawls—most likely over a mead shortage. As she watched the new couple at the seat of honor, she couldn't help glancing slyly at Hiccup.

Today had been his first time performing this particular chiefly duty. Weddings had been put on hold in the aftermath of the Alpha's attack—too much to do and no one had felt like celebrating. Not with the body count emblazoned in bright runes across everyone's memories.

Hiccup sat, just off to the side, a grin on his face as the groom's best friend told a rather embarrassing tale about an encounter with a dragon. Valka was beside him on one side, and on the other sat Astrid's empty chair.

At the beginning of the evening, Astrid had been happy to sit next to him. Now, she was over talking with their friends, trying to avoid the gazes of the town gossips. She didn't miss the looks they threw at her before whispering to each other. Astrid knew the rumors that had been spreading about them for years. She'd always tried not to let them bother her, but she couldn't help being resentful. If it hadn't been for them—and maybe a little pride on her part—Astrid's own wedding might have happened much sooner. And yet, the fact that their slander had been proven unfounded seemed to only lower her in their esteem.

So she came over here and started chatting with her friends, escaping their watching somewhat.

Besides, if she was up there sitting beside Hiccup, she wouldn't be able to take in the full effect of him happy and smiling.

The best man ended his speech and the entire hall erupted in laughter. Then the Vikings began to chant for music. The musicians pulled out their instruments and began to play. The song was one that every Berkian knew. No wedding was complete without it. As the first notes began to play, Astrid looked at Hiccup, unsure of what to expect. Traditionally, only trothed couples danced this dance.

Hiccup wasn't looking at her. The smile of just a moment ago fell. He recovered quickly though, plastering another grin on his face. But Astrid knew this one was fake. Beside him, Valka's wide grin had lessened somewhat. She was still smiling, but mixed with the happiness, Astrid thought she saw regret too.

Hiccup leaned over and whispered something in his mother's ear and then slipped away from the table. He didn't turn around as Astrid followed him with her eyes. As he slipped out the door, Astrid stood, following him. Wondering just what about this song had upset him.

"Hiccup?" she called as the night air bit at her.

Hiccup didn't take his eyes from the moon, but he waved a hand to acknowledge that she was there.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Behind her, the song played on. People were singing along, Gobber's off-key warble among the loudest. Astrid thought back to Valka's face. "Does this have something to do with your dad?"

Out huffed a short laugh. "Sometimes I think you know me better than Toothless does."

"I try." She put a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to tell me?"

"They sang this together, the day he died."

"Oh, Hiccup."

He took her hand. "They were laughing and happy. You should have seen my dad. I've never seen him like that. I can't say I never wondered what they were like together. Now I know. Sort of. I just wish I'd gotten to see more of it. "

"I know." Astrid squeezed his hand. In the great hall, the song ended in cheers.

"Again," someone shouted. Astrid couldn't blame them; she'd always loved watching the couples dance this dance. She slipped her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek against his shoulder. Hiccup's arms tightened around her. She felt as his ribs expanded.

"I'll swim and sail on savage seas, with ne'er a fear of drowning."

Hiccup sang so softly, Astrid wasn't even sure he was aware he was singing. She stayed very still as he made his way through the whole verse. Astrid liked Hiccup's singing voice. It was definitely a sight better than Gobber's.

"And love me for eternity." He barely managed the last word.

Astrid didn't know what prompted her, but she pulled away, holding her bent arm up in front of him.

"My dearest one, my darling dear." Astrid wasn't used to singing ballads. Her voice sounded a little harsh to her own ears. A voice made for bawdy ballads, where the words mattered more than the tune. But she sang anyways, because she liked this song.

Hiccup smiled a little as he placed his arm against hers.

They knew the dance. They'd been watching it since they were children. The steps came easily to Astrid, she had always been quick on her feet. They sang and danced, grins widening on both their faces.

He lifted her easily as their singing came to a close. How different he was from the fourteen-year-old who had barely been able to lift a battle axe. He lowered her to the ground. If Toothless had been outside with them, this would have been the moment that the dragon would push them together. But he wasn't.

They stared at each other, smiling and breathless.

"Will you, Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

"What?"

Hiccup blinked, eyes widening. "Oh, gods." He groaned, pulling away from her. "I can't believe I did that."

Astrid feels her heart plummet.

"I was planning out this whole thing." Hiccup dragged a hand through his hair and it's all Astrid can do not to laugh. She doesn't though, because he's so obviously mortified. "With the dragons and I was going to take you out, away from Berk and—ugh, I can't believe I just blurted it out like that. Astrid, I'm so—"

Astrid grabbed his face, kissing him with such ferocity that Hiccup flailed for a minute before wrapping his arms around her and hauling her body into his.

"It was perfect," she said, when she finally pulled away.

Hiccup cleared his throat. "Is that—Is that a yes?" He sounds a little breathless, but then, she feels a little breathless herself.

"Yes."

* * *

And ya'll thought I had forgotten. I didn't. I just have been focusing on getting down all of Loki's Gate before I lose all of the ideas. If you like this, then you should head to my profile and look that one up. You might like that one two. And while I'm suggesting fics for you to read between chapters of this, you should check out Nightfall by Le'letha and After Everything by Foxy's Girl. Those two fics are literally ruling my life. -Wait, hold on, gotta check my email for chapter updates.

As to the rumors that I refer to at the beginning of the fic, well, if you haven't figured them out, don't worry, I'll get to more details in a later chapter. Suffice it to say that some people in the village have made assumptions about how far their relationship has gone.

And before you say, "Well, according to that one interview with Craig and America...", I'm gonna stop you.

It was an interview, with two actors, talking off the cuff. I, for one, do not think that these two have done the vertical tango yet. For one very simple reason: birth control.

We are looking at people who lived hundreds of years ago, back before any truly **reliable** form of birth control. Besides the insertion of dragons, the technology and medicine appear very close to what is historically accurate. This isn't some Tamora Pierce magical world with magical charms. Back then if you had sex, there was a very cood chance you would get pregnant-as long as there was nothing physically wrong with your sexual organs, of course. Now that is not to say that medieval teens (and adults) were any different from teens (or adults) today. Hasty marriages have been around since the dawn of time, I'm sure.

I am aware that there were rudimentary forms of birth control, but to my knowledge _most_ of these relied of superstition and chance. Trust me, you don't want me to get into the details of some of the others. And that's not even getting into the cultural views on sex (which would have affected Astrid more than Hiccup). Knowing these two, I don't see them-and especially Hiccup-chancing an accidental pregnancy. Your head canon may or may not differ from mine, but I am reluctant to take the word of two actors over what I know of the period and what I understand from the characters. So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Of course, that wouldn't stop the town gossips from talking about all the time Hiccup and Astrid seem to spend alone.


	6. Stall Out

Age 15

This was the life.

Astrid reached up, letting the clouds flow through her fingers. Before, when she'd been stuck on the ground—how strange to think she'd gone fourteen years without flying—Astrid had always imagined that clouds were made of wool, stretched so thin it could float in the sky. But these white strands did not snag as her fingers passed through them, they only felt cold.

Stormfly banked and Astrid grabbed ahold of the dragon as they plunged toward the ocean. Somewhere ahead of them, she could hear Hiccup whooping. She grinned. Who knew the scrawny teen had had all of that in him. Here he was, just now fifteen and the head of a dragon training academy.

For once, he'd beaten Astrid at something. Not that she held a grudge. No. Let him have this one. She was glad Hiccup had found his place in the village.

Stormfly spread her wings, extending into a glide right next to Toothless.

Astrid couldn't help returning the grin Hiccup flashed at her.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked.

"What do you think?"

"I think it's a lot quieter without the twins."

Astrid nodded. "Or Snotlout."

Astrid had nothing against her other friends. Training together was important and you didn't spend years causing mischief in the village with people without developing a bond. Still, her other friends didn't understand that sometimes it was nice to just fly. Hiccup got it. And more and more, she was learning that Hiccup got her.

She liked that about him.

A dark shadow caught her attention. Astrid glanced over just in time to see Toothless veer towards them.

"Stormfly," she gasped. Her dragon was one step ahead of her. Stormfly tucked her wings and dropped, narrowly evading the Night Fury. "Hiccup, what in Hel's name?" She twisted in her saddle, following their downward progress. Something was wrong. Toothless was twisted and clawing at the air. Astrid urged her dragon towards her friends. Had Hiccup fallen off?

Just before Astrid and Stormfly drew even with them, Toothless righted himself. Hiccup clung to the saddle with white knuckles.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine." His voice sounded funny. Thin as the blade of her battle axe right after Gobber sharpened it.

Toothless shifted a little, angling for an island so far below them it looked like an ink blot.

"Yeah, that looks good, bud," Hiccup said, his words barely audible above the wind. The angle of his head hid his expression from Astrid. Without looking back to her, he yelled, "Toothless and I are going to…um, look into something. Why don't you head home? I'll catch up with you at the academy."

"Not happening," she said, though she doubted that Hiccup heard her. Toothless had already flown away from them, making a beeline for the island. "After them, girl." Something was wrong and she'd be damned if she couldn't be as persistent as Hiccup could.

Stormfly dove, making touching down well before the Night Fury. Toothless seemed to be having a bit of trouble. His landing was ungainly, not quite a crash, but less than smooth.

The dragon grumbled, looking back at his rider with worried eyes.

"Just give me a minute, bud, I'll b—" He saw her. "Astrid, I thought you went back to Berk." He spoke through gritted teeth.

"Fat chance," she said. "Something wrong with Toothless' harness?"

"Um, no—" Hiccup paused, flexing his hands.

Astrid watched the mask slip into place. It was so easy to see now that she actually knew him. Another time she might have felt a twinge of guilt at the way she had treated him for many years. At the number of times she had said nothing when her friends teasing forced him to pretend he wasn't hurt. Not now though. Hiccup didn't get to hide the important stuff from her anymore. They were best friends.

Astrid hopped off of Stormfly. "What's going on, Hiccup? You nearly knocked us out of the sky."

"Yeah, that wasn't intentional. Sorry." Hiccup slid off of Toothless, nearly falling flat on his face as his peg leg crumpled. Toothless kept him from eating dirt, shoving his head under Hiccup's flailing arms. He didn't even grumble as Hiccup grasped his ear and hauled himself back upright.

He held onto the dragon, his face screwed up, taking several deep breaths.

Without even thinking about it, Astrid came up on his other side.

"Here, let me help you," she said, wrapping an arm around his waist.

"I'm fine, Astrid."

"Oh, so you want to try walking on your own?" she asked. She pulled away from him just enough.

Hiccup clutched at her convulsively as his fake foot touched the ground. "Okay, nope. You got me. Can we go sit down now?"

With her help, Hiccup hobble over to the shade of a tree. Getting him down to the ground proved to be tricky, but they managed to seat themselves on the ground without falling. Hiccup drew his knees up to his chest and rested his forehead on them.

Toothless crouched in front of them, snuffling over Hiccup's hair. He nudged his rider a couple of times with his nose. Without lifting his head, Hiccup patted the dragon and waved him away. Toothless looked from Hiccup to Astrid and she could have sworn she saw him shrug. Then he trotted off. It wasn't long before he was chasing—and being chased—through the trees with Stormfly.

Astrid leaned back and waited. If there was anything else she could do, Hiccup would tell her. Maybe.

Then again.

"Can I help any?"

Hiccup shook his head.

"Where are you hurt?"

Hiccup laughed. "Nowhere that actually exists anymore."

"So…your fake foot…hurts?" Astrid narrowed her eyes. Was that even possible?

"Fake foot, no. Missing foot, yes."

"Ah. I see." Maybe it was just one of those Hiccup things that she was never going to understand.

"Sounds crazy, I know," he said. At last, he lifted his head. Wincing, he stretched out his bad leg. "I would have thought I was going crazy if Gobber hadn't warned me about it. I know there's nothing there to be hurting, but gods, it feels like someone just stuck a hot rod through my foot."

"The foot that isn't there?"

"Yep."

"O-kay."

It must really be hurting, Hiccup looked like he was fighting tears. Astrid fought the urge to run her thumb under his eyes, catching the tears before they fell. That was a silly idea. Instead, she offered something a little less intimate.

She held out her hand.

"What's that for?" Hiccup asked.

"It's for you to hold, you big baby. Always made me feel better when I got hurt as a kid."

"Hey, I'm not a kid anymore either."

"Yeah, sure, but you still want to hold my hand."

Hiccup glared for a moment, then took her hand, squeezing tightly.

"Sorry, about earlier by the way. My whole leg seized up. It's never happened while I was flying before." He looked away, his cheeks flushed. Astrid liked to think that is was because he was holding her hand and not because he'd almost knocked her out of the sky.

"Don't worry about it. It'll take more than a few shady maneuvers from you to take us down."

They sat silently until Hiccup's grip on her hand lessened a little.

"Better?" she asked.

"Just a twinge now."

"Do you want to try heading home?" she asked. Their friends would be waiting for them. Tuffnut already teased her mercilessly about how much time she was hanging out with Hiccup. She didn't want to give the whole group ideas.

"In a minute," he said.

"Okay," she said, settling back against the tree again. Their shoulders were almost touching like this. Strange how self-conscious she felt around him now. She'd kissed him full on the mouth in front of her entire village because it had seemed like the thing to do. But for the first time in her life, she wasn't quite sure where to go from here. Hiccup seemed content to keep things at best friends level—and all things considered—Astrid agreed with him.

Still, it was hard to feel comfortable with someone when you're whole village eyed you like you were going to start making out in the middle of square. Gods knew what they thought whenever Hiccup and Astrid went flying on their own.

"Astrid?"

"Huh?" Did he know what she was thinking? What if he wanted to talk about that right now?

"Thanks."

"A-Any time."

Was she blushing? She hoped she wasn't blushing. The dragons ran by, giving her an excuse to turn her head for a few minutes. When her cheeks felt a little cooler, she stole a glimpse of Hiccup. His eyes were closed. Probably had been for a while.

He was so different from everyone else she knew. She'd never realized how annoying the big, blustery Vikings could be until she had started hanging around Hiccup. Sure, he rambled, but even he was talking non-stop there was a quietness about him. She liked that. It was comfortable. It was nice to have someone who didn't think she needed to be told how to think or how to be. Who believed you could be a proper Viking without being the biggest or the strongest.

She looked away quickly when he opened his eyes. Toothless was on his back, batting at Stormfly's nose with his front claws.

"We should probably get back to Berk," Hiccup said.

"Are you good?" she asked.

"Sure," he said. "Might need a hand up, though."

Astrid stood, offering him her hand. Hiccup took it. She hauled him to his feet in one smooth motion. He really was scrawny. His eyes widened.

"Wow."

Astrid shrugged. "Just be glad you aren't Snotlout or Fishlegs. You'd be stuck on the ground."

Hiccup nodded. Astrid offered her shoulder, but Hiccup shook his head and limped over to Toothless. He was walking better now.

"Do you think maybe you should ride, Stormfly?" she asked, coming up behind him. "You know, just in case your leg seizes up again?"

Hiccup paused. "How would Toothless get back?"

"I would fly him, dolt," she said.

"I dunno, it's kind of complicated…"

"What do you think, Toothless. Can handle it?"

Toothless stared up at them, smiling his gummy smile. He looked between the two of them. With a quick twist, he got away from Stormfly and bounded over to Astrid. He liked her much better now than he had at their first meeting.

"Toothless, I'm not sure it's a good idea…"

The girl and the black dragon shot him a look.

"Okay. Okay. Stormfly it is."

Hiccup gave Astrid a few quick instructions, to which she rolled her eyes.

"I've been watching you fly for months, Hiccup. I think I've got the basics." To prove her point, she jumped on Toothless' back. The dragon seemed to understand her thought process. He gave her a minute to test out the stirrup and then he bounded into the air. They circled back around and hovered a good twenty feet above Hiccup and Stormfly. "See?" Sure it was a little awkward, since the stirrup was made for Hiccup's false foot, but it would do for the flight back to Berk. They just couldn't do any stunts.

Hiccup shook his head and hauled himself onto Stormfly.

* * *

**And here's the next chapter. I wanted to get it up before I started focusing on the next chapter of Loki's Gate (it's gonna be good). **

**Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review this story. I love reviews. I love people who take the time to do reviews. Also, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and follow/favorite both of my HTTYD fics. You are all my favorite people in the world. It's so encouraging to know that people want to stick with them.**

**Don't worry, I'll have more coming once I've finished editing the next chapter of Loki's Gate. I wanted to do a couple centering around Hiccup's amputation and the extreme change that would have on his life. Though it's hard to talk about without using some of the more modern medical language. Like, I doubt Vikings would have referred to Hiccup or Gobber as an amputee. I've read up a little on this (Side note: Take your fan fiction seriously. If you don't know something, there's this thing called the internet. Look it up. Find out what people from other times would have known about things like medicine. It always peeves me when I see a fic with medicine or technology that is obviously more advanced than it should be.), but if anyone knows anything detailed, let me know.**

**Enjoy ya'll. **


	7. Secret

Age 16

"Do you see that?" Hiccup asked, pulling up beside Astrid. He pointed below them.

Leaning over Stormfly's side, Astrid spied the small chain of islands. "Another one?"

Hiccup nodded. "Let's go check it out."

They flew over the islands, searching for the telltale signs of dragons. This particular archipelago didn't seem to have much wildlife. Some birds, but not much else. Still, it was beautiful. And quiet. That was her favorite part about these long excursions with Hiccup—the quiet. On Berk, something was always happening. They were surrounded by the sounds of people and dragons. Even when they were on the other side of the island it was hard to find a spot that wasn't ringing with the sounds of Vikings and dragons.

But up here, when they were flying all of that noise disappeared. The strange tension that had risen up between them over the last couple of months was gone too. Dragon riding took them beyond all of that. Everyday conversation? She was having a hard time remembering the last time she'd had a normal conversation.

Astrid squinted up at the sky; the sun was burning down on them. "Do you think maybe we should take a break?"

"Lunch sounds like a good idea right about now."

At the mention of food, their dragons perked up. No one had to ask them twice to land. Astrid spotted a nice beachy area and they landed. Dishing out Toothless and Stormfly's lunches first, they then unpacked their own food and headed for the shade beneath the trees.

Hiccup, Astrid noticed, was limping. She watched as he sat and rubbed at his leg, just above the false foot.

"Your leg bothering you?" she asked, sitting next to him. Anywhere else, neither of them would have sat so close. Somebody would have said something. And since Astrid wasn't quite sure how Hiccup felt about the idea of them dating, she tried to keep people from bringing it up. Out here though, being right next to him held no danger. At least, he didn't lean away from where their shoulders touched.

He did, however, look away at her question.

"It's fine."

"Liar." Astrid took a bit of bread and cheese. "You're limping."

He sighed. "It's been bothering me for the last week or so, yes."

"Don't tell me a storm is coming," she teased.

"As far as I can tell, my leg does not foretell the weather. I'll leave that to Bucket and Gothi."

Astrid laughed. "Right. You already have enough on your plate."

Hiccup joined her laughter, bumping her with his shoulder. They ate their lunch, chewing in slice for a few minutes.

"Are you worried something might be wrong?" Astrid asked. She'd never heard of a leg going bad this long after amputation, but maybe it was possible. And she had heard of peg legs that never stopped hurting. She hoped that wasn't the case. The idea of Hiccup having to deal with constant pain for the rest of his life made her uncomfortable.

Hiccup reached down again, gently probing at the area around the cuff.

"I don't know," he said. He wouldn't look at her. Instead, he kept his eyes on their dragons. Who had long ago finished their fish and were now splashing in the waves. Just at that moment, Toothless used his tail to spray water at Stormfly. "Great, now I'm going to have to clean that off tonight. Toothless, would you keep your tail out of the salt water." He reddened, clearly conscious of the fact that Astrid was still waiting for answer. "It's been getting sore when I spend too much time standing and it's a little tight. Maybe I'm just getting fat." He laughed.

"Just take it off then," she said.

"What?"

"If it's bothering you, just take it off for now."

"Astrid, I don't know…" He turned even redder.

He was embarrassed? About this? "Thor's beard," Astrid said, scooting down so she could get at his false foot. She paused, suppressing a smile. Hiccup grabbed her hands.

"Really, Astrid, it's fine. I'll—" He cut off at the look Astrid gave him.

"If you're worried what I'll think of your stump, get over yourself. I was there when it was just a scarred lump of flesh and bone, remember?" She pulled his false foot into her lap, rolling his pant leg up above his knee and removing the fake appendage. "Who do you think helped Gobber fit this thing on you?"

"Um, my dad."

"Your dad?" Astrid laughed. "With those sausages for fingers? That's hilarious."

Hiccup's leg ended just below the knee, and he was right, it did look a little irritated. Gently, she began to knead the flesh there, like she'd seen her grandmother do for her grandfather. His bad leg had always gotten testy in the winter.

Hiccup sighed. "You really don't have to do that," he protested, though, he didn't try to stop her again.

"Shut up, Hiccup." The entire area below his knee was tense, but as far as she could tell—and she had helped care for the leg while Hiccup was unconscious, so she knew a little bit from Gobber—it looked healthy enough. "Hiccup, do you think it might be bothering you because your right leg is a little bit longer?"

"What?" he asked. He whipped his leg out of her lap, stretching it out in front of him. "How can you tell?"

She handed him the false foot. When he replaced it, he saw what she had seen: there was a least an inch of difference between the heel of his good foot and the bottom of his false foot.

"That's probably why you've been limping," she said, standing. "You're finally getting taller."

Hiccup held his hand out so she could help him up, shaking his head as she did so with ease. He never ceased to be impressed by the ease with which she could haul him to his feet. Now that she knew what she was looking for, she could see the way his left shoulder dipped. Hiccup held his hand above his head, measuring between them.

"We're still the same height though," he said sounding a little disappointed.

"Yeah, well, you're not the only one who's been doing some growing."

"Huh. I guess I'll have to have Gobber help me with a new one." The wheels are already turning behind his eyes, plotting, planning, fitting pieces together. Hiccup will have a dozen prototypes in mind by the time they get back to Berk. "Shame, I was kind of getting used to this one." He said looking down.

Neither of them saw their dragons, completely caught up in some strange dragon game, as they bounded towards them.

Toothless rushed by, whacking Astrid with a wing. She reached for Hiccup, trying to stay upright. Stormfly was close behind though, and she spun them both, knocking them down.

It wasn't the first time this had happened. It wasn't even the first time Hiccup had ended up on top. Normally, they would spring apart as soon as quickly as they could manage. But normally, they weren't alone.

Hiccup started to pick himself up, but he paused, his eyes meeting Astrid's.

He stared at her for a long time. Astrid's heartbeat quickened. Was he going to kiss her? For a brief moment, he looked like he wanted to kiss her. He blinked and turned red all over again.

"Sorry, I should—I mean, we should—Those dragons, right?" He pushed away from her, sitting back on his heel and rubbing his neck. "You'd think we would learn, right? One of these days someone is going to end up with a concussion."

"Yeah," she said.

Hiccup was babbling, nervous words flowing out of his mouth.

Astrid was over it.

This weird in-between phase that they found themselves in was infuriating. They were getting nowhere with this. Maybe it was now or never.

"Hiccup," she said, grabbing his vest. "Shut up." Yanking him towards her, she kissed him. Hiccup did not disappoint. As soon as their lips met, he was kissing her back. Her hair was going to be mess when they pulled apart. If she'd thought their previous quick kisses were amazing, this blew them out of the water. This was kissing.

Finally, they had to stop to breathe.

"So…that happened," Hiccup said, one hand still in her hair. He was so close that she could feel his breath as he spoke.

"Could happen again, if you want it to."

Hiccup didn't answer, just pulled her close again for another kiss.

There was a shuffle and a grunt nearby. Hiccup and Astrid broke apart to find both dragons sitting perfectly still, their heads tilted at oddly similar angles. Toothless, who had a far more expressive face than Stormfly, stared at them wide-eyed, one lip lifted to expose pink gums.

"Toothless thinks we're crazy," Hiccup said.

"Maybe he's just jealous because dragons don't have anything as awesome as kissing."

"They can fly. Flying is pretty awesome. And fire-breathing."

Astrid pretended to think. "I'll stick with kissing, but if you want learn how to breathe fire, be my guest."

"Nope. I'm with you on the kissing thing." He stood, wincing a little as he put his weight on the false foot. Astrid took the hand he offered and got to her feet. And then they just stood there, both of them obviously at a loss for where to go from here.

"This is going to get awkward again when we get back to Berk isn't it?" she asked.

Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose. "The twins are going to be merciless. And Snotlout." Then his eyes went wide. "And my dad, oh gods, Astrid, I apologize in advance."

"Maybe we should keep this just between us for a little bit longer." Though she wasn't entirely sure what exactly she meant by 'this'. Did making out mean you were dating? Maybe there needed to be some sort of formal declaration, but she wasn't sure she was ready for that. And judging by the relief on Hiccup's face at her suggestion, maybe he wasn't ready for everyone to know how close they were either.

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Okay then, our secret."

"Our secret."

* * *

**Sorry it took me so long to get this up. i have a bunch of these just sitting waiting to be edited, but I've been so focused on my WIP, that I kind of slacked off. Almost finished with Loki's Gate, working on the last two chapters, I think. Don't worry, I haven't jumped the Hiccstrid ship, I've just been busy fangirling over Percy Jackson and Korra. I haven't forgotten though.**

**Obviously meant as a companion piece to Stall Out. I always wondered when Hiccup and Astrid officially decided they were dating, this isnt quite there yet, but it's on the way (and I've got one for that too). In RoB and DoB they have this interesting kind of bromance with benefits going on, so I don't frrl like they've really talked about the dating thing.**

**Enjoy. As always, I love reviews (especially the ones written with the tears of my readers-oh wait, wrong fic).**


	8. Sanctuary

Age 20

When Hiccup told them about the Bewilderbeast's lair, Astrid expected something like Helheim's Gate. As they followed him, she pictured a dark and forbidding place, where a wrong step would get you killed. A place only a dragon would think habitable.

This sanctuary was nothing like that.

"Oh my gods," Astrid said. Green surrounded them. Water poured from a waterfall. Above them, the cavern stretched so high she couldn't even see the icy roof.

And this place had been filled with dragons. Now there just a handful of small ones, but she could see it in her mind's eye. She wasn't the only one staring open-mouthed. Even the twins were silent.

"Hiccup." She turned, but he wasn't where he was supposed to be. Some things never changed.

Leaving the others to pester Hiccup's mom with their questions, she went looking for her boyfriend. Retracing her steps led her to fork in the tunnel—relatively sure which one led back to the battlefield—Astrid slipped down the right tunnel.

When she found him, he was watching a stream of water trickle from the ceiling.

The cave was a home, or what passed for one. A jug sat on a shelf by the stream. A fire was burning to embers in the center by a worn log.

It struck her then, as she looked round the spare room, that Stoick had been in here—alive—just hours ago.

"Hiccup?"

He wasn't crying. He hadn't cried since they left the beach.

"What am I doing, Astrid?" he whispered.

She went to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Hiccup pulled her close, his hands resting at her waist. He pressed his face to her hair, breathing her in. Neither of them moved. Hot emotion pressed up from inside her, but she would not release it. If one of them broke, so would the other.

"You're saving Berk," she said. "You're getting Toothless—you're getting all of our dragons back."

"A chief protects his own." Hiccup's voice came so soft that Astrid would have missed it if he hadn't been speaking directly into her ear. He pulled away from her, cradling her face in his hands. "I love you," he said, "no matter what happens, I love you."

Hiccup kissed her hungrily. Astrid matched him intensity, accepting his grief and desperation, echoing it back in that kiss. Somehow, they got closer, her heels leaving the ground as his arms wrapped around her. Their names echoed down the tunnel, but they ignored the call until footsteps echoed just outside the cavern. Hiccup pulled away, panting. Just for that moment, the pain shone raw and glistening on his face. Then he gathered himself together, determination replacing his grief.

Frigid air burned against her lips.

Astrid reached for his hand. "I love you, too."

Lips pressed tightly together, he nodded. Hiccup strode out the door, eliciting a squeak from whoever had come searching for him. It sounded like Fishlegs. Astrid looked around the room one last time. What had happened here? Why had he returned?

She hoped the chief's reunion with his wife had been a happy one.

Carefully, she knelt down and scooped ashes over the fire. Embers disappeared beneath gray dust. Brushing her hands off, she went to find the others.

It was time to take back what was theirs. Only then would Stoick's spirit be able to rest in peace.

* * *

**Obviously, since HTTYD 2 was a movie marketed towards younger kids (marketed, not made for), we didn't get to explore the death and destruction that Drago's attack wreaked on the sanctuary and on Berk. We also didn't really get to see Hiccup dealing with his grief. Lucky for us, that leaves the door wide open for fan fiction. So I thought up this short little drabble. Hope you like it. **

**As always, reviews are welcome! I love hearing what you liked.**


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